The On Fire podcast is back for Survivor 49, with Survivor host Jeff Probst, producer Jeff Wolfe, and Survivor: Cambodia winner Jeremy Collins. In the latest episode, the trio discusses the snake-biting incident, the role of the medical team in helping Jake, and how it ultimately led to his medevac, among other topics. Plus, Jeff Probst answers some fan questions.
First, Probst brings up the upcoming Survivor book, Forged by Fire, which will be published on February 24th, 2026. The book will celebrate the show’s 25 years on the air and its 50 seasons, featuring 250 pages of over a thousand never-before-seen photos of Survivor. The book will also include some of Probst’s personal diary entries, which capture his memories while on location throughout the years.
Regarding the snake-biting incident, Probst retells how Jake was immediately sent to base camp for a medical assessment after the bite. While en route, Probst revealed that the boat carrying Jake, the camera crew, and the others lost communication for a while. This is why a producer yelled out to check if Jake was breathing once they got to the base camp, as heard on the episode.
Probst says that watching back those scenes is reminiscent of the medical TV hit show, The Pitt (which, if you haven’t watched, I highly recommend it!). While the moment felt chaotic to Probst, the medical team assured him there was no chaos, as they knew perfectly well what they were doing. Also, Probst says that over the ten years that Survivor production has been in Fiji, there hasn’t been a single mishap with a sea krait, not even affecting locals on the island.
The extreme measures they decided to take (the medevac) were primarily due to erring on the side of caution. An Australian hospital later cleared Jake, as the local Fijian hospital had never seen a sea krait bite either.
Later, Wolfe asks Jeremy what he thinks when he sees a tribe like Kele being decimated, to which he responds that, from a gamer’s perspective, “it’s blood in the water” anyway, as he wants everyone gone if he wants to win the game. Probst replies that, from his point of view as a father, he wouldn’t be able to be as cutthroat. Jeremy pushes back by saying that he is playing for his family, which is why he would have that mindset. Probst concedes that no one knows what they would ultimately do in the game until they’re actually there, which adds another layer of difficulty.
Afterward, when asked if he ever sat out of a challenge, Jeremy disclosed that it had happened only once during Cambodia. As a competitor, Jeremy was unwilling to throw a challenge, even though his tribe wanted to do so to vote out Monica Padilla, and as a concession, he sat out of the challenge. The Bayon tribe ultimately lost the challenge and succeeded in voting out Monica at the next Tribal Council. The trio then agrees that a tribe in the New Era would never take such a risk, as the game dynamics are entirely different now.
Lastly, Probst answers some fan questions, including how the Survivor Ultimate Fan Café was born. Probst says it’s in Boston, and it’s the ultimate Survivor fan’s experience, featuring challenges from the show, sets such as Tribal Council, and many more incredible surprises.
Probst also reveals what would happen if a player found an idol buried that belongs to someone else. A producer would have to intervene and tell that player the idol isn’t up for grabs. What happens next is up to that player and what they read between the lines.
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